When England hosts Australia for a five-match Test series beginning later this month, the Ashes, the biggest event in Test cricket, is expected to begin. The first Test is slated to take place at Edgbaston Stadium in Birmingham from June 16–20.
Australia will enter the match having won the 2021–2023 World Test Championship (WTC). In the championship game at The Oval, they destroyed India by a huge margin of 209 runs. The Australians checked off all the boxes in the WTC 2021–23 and would like to continue doing so this year.
However, England will enter the series after a convincing victory over Ireland just a few weeks ago. In their last six Test series, the hosts are undefeated, and they plan to rule the game in front of the home crowd.
Both teams will have a chance to break numerous records during the eagerly anticipated first Test match.
Now that that is out of the way, let’s look at the top three achievements that could occur during the first Ashes Test
1. Steve Smith could score 15,000 international innings.
The arch-enemy of England, Steve Smith, will be hoping for another successful Ashes tour, which will only enhance his reputation as one of Australia’s all-time great batsmen.
Since he scored 14,894 runs for the nation in international cricket, his impressive record speaks for itself. Just 106 runs separate him from becoming the ninth Australian to reach the milestone of 15,000 international runs, which would be a major accomplishment.
Smith also needs 53 more runs to become the fourth Australian to reach 9,000 Test runs. He will reach the milestone with Kumar Sangakkara (172 innings) as the joint-fastest player if he scores those 53 runs in the first innings of the Edgbaston Test. In 171 innings of Test play for Australia, Smith has amassed 8,947 red-ball runs.
2. Stuart Broad might rank as the second-most effective bowler ever.
Stuart Broad enjoys bowling against Australia, as is well known. He is a dangerous asset in the Ashes due to his favorable matchups, particularly against players like David Warner and Usman Khawaja.
The 36-year-old has some amazing stats when bowling against Australia, taking 131 wickets at a strike rate of about 55 in only 35 Tests.
With just five more wickets, Broad will pass the legendary Aussies as the second-highest wicket-taker in Test cricket history. Broad is currently the third-highest wicket-taker against Australia in Test matches. Broad has more Test kills against Australia than anyone else except for Sir Ian Botham (148) and Courtney Walsh (135) combined.
3. Pat Cummins might end up having the best record in Test cricket against Joe Root.
Joe Root is regarded as one of the best Test batters of this generation because of his unwavering character and abundance of runs to his credit. But just like every other batter, he has struggled when going up against a specific bowler, in Root’s case none other than Pat Cummins.
Eight dismissals by the Australian Test captain, who shares the record with Josh Hazlewood for most dismissals by a bowler, came from the Englishman. The most effective bowler against Joe Root, Cummins, could emerge if he manages to dismiss Root at least once at Edgbaston, given that Hazlewood is unlikely to play in the opening Test.
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